The Spectacular Adventures of Noggin & Izzy

Noggin & Izzy meet the evil Doctor Alexi

It started out like any normal Saturday.  Noggin slept late, until his annoying little sister, Muffin, woke him up by jumping on the bed.  Noggin, being a bit grumpy, but not unkind, played with Muffin in the garden for a bit, then set off to meet Izzy at the science museum.  They'd been planning it for weeks, because there was a new time-travel exhibit, and Noggin thought it might help them with their own plans to build a time machine so they could travel to the old west and be cowboys.

So Izzy bought their tickets, and they waited in the queue, which was very long. 

"What are you eating?" asked Izzy, when she noticed Noggin chewing.

"Just a Crunchy Bite," said Noggin.  Crunchy Bites are his very favorite snacks, and he always packs them in his knapsack for just such an occasion.  "I'd offer you one, but I know you don't like them," he said, secretly a little glad of that, because he only had one left.

"It's ok," said Izzy, "I'm not hungry.  Anyway, it looks like the line is moving now." 

So in they went, through the big glass doors and into the Future section of the museum.  As they approached the gleaming Time Machine at the centre of the exhibit, Noggin noticed a very tall, very peculiar looking person hovering near the door of the spectacular machine.  It wasn't so much that he looked peculiar, but he was acting peculiar, at least to Noggin.  His eyes were darting to and fro, like he was watching everyone.  And he seemed to be trying to hide behind people, which was especially difficult, since he was practically a giant.  Noggin didn't like to stare, because it's impolite, but he couldn't take his eyes off him. 

Suddenly, this peculiar person did a most peculiar thing.  He climbed over the velvet rope and opened the door of the Time Machine and hopped in.  Noggin, who was still watching, got so excited that without even thinking about it, he followed him, sneaking under the velvet rope and jumping inside just before the big shiny door of the Time Machine closed with a loud clang.  The man was so busy pushing buttons, he didn't seem to notice Noggin had joined him.  Lights were lighting up, and buzzers were sounding, and people outside were yelling and pounding on the door.  And then suddenly, they weren't.  Because they weren't there anymore.  They'd all disappeared.  The Time Machine was now in a different place entirely.

"Uhm, excuse me," said Noggin.  "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'd like to go back to my friend now." said Noggin, quite politely. 

The peculiar, giant person turned around in surprise.  "How did you get here?" he demanded.  "This is all wrong!"

"I only wanted to see the inside of the Time Machine," said Noggin.

"Well, never mind, you'll have to come along now," he said with a frown, as he threw open the door and dashed out.

"Where are we, and if you don't mind my asking, who are you?" asked Noggin.

"Ten minutes ago, and I'm Doctor Alexi.  Hurry up, we don't have long."

"To do what?"

"To stop the museum from opening!" said Doctor Alexi.  "They're going to steal my Time Machine and take it into the future and stop my evil plan to take over the world!"

"Who is?" asked Noggin. 

"All I know is their names.  Someone called Noggin & Izzy.  I can't let them foil my plans.  It would mean the end of everything, including my Crunchy Bites factory, which is how I make money to fund my evil work."

"No more Crunchy Bites?" said Noggin.  "I think its ok, we can go back now.  I'll take care of it, but if it's ok, I'd like to make one more stop first."

Five minutes later (or was it earlier, I'm getting a bit confused), Noggin and Izzy were standing in the queue, waiting to go inside the museum, when they heard the announcement that the new Future exhibit was unexpectedly closed for the day.

"What are you eating?" asked Izzy.

"Crunchy Bites," said Noggin with a smile.  "I've got bags and bags of them."

Noggin Gets a Little Sister

"I don't like this at all," said Noggin to Izzy in a huff.  "She makes so much noise.  And she keeps taking my toys.  Without asking.  As if she doesn't even know they're my toys and not hers.  I don't like this at all."

"But she's so cute!" said Izzy.  "How could you not like her?"

Noggin looked at Izzy in shock.  Best friends are not supposed to think that things you don't like are cute.  "That's another thing," he said.  "Everybody keeps saying how cute she is.  Just because she's little.  I don't care how little you are, it isn't right to steal someone's toys.  What kind of name is Muffin, anyway?  And why did they bring her home?  We were perfectly fine without her.  Now everything is loud and messy and no one has time for me."  Even as he was saying these things, Noggin knew they weren't completely true, but he couldn't help it, he was feeling really cross.

"I know how you feel," said Izzy, patting Noggin on the back in sympathy, "but that's just what it's like to have a little sister.  There are advantages to being the big brother, though."

Noggin had been so busy thinking about the disadvantages, he hadn't thought there might be a good side of things.  "Like what?" he asked.

"Well, for one thing, you'll have someone to play with even when I have to go home to my tea.  She won't always be so little, you know.  And you'll always be bigger than her, so you can boss her about.  Even her littleness becomes an advantage, because compared to her, you're really grown up.  You'll get to stay up later than her, and go places she's not allowed to go.  And it'll be your job to protect her if anyone tries to hurt her."

"Hurt her?  Who would try to hurt her?" said Noggin in alarm.  After all, even if she was a nuisance, she was his little sister, and no one better hurt her if they know what's good for them. 

Just then, they heard a tiny squeal followed by lot of very loud barking coming from the garden next door, where Alfie, the scary German Shepherd lives.

"Hep me!" came the squeal again, from the other side of the fence, and Noggin realized it was Muffin.  "Oh pease hep me!" 

Noggin and Izzy ran to the fence where the cries seemed to be coming from, and Noggin realised with dismay that Muffin had wiggled through the small hole he had dug, and now she was in Alfie's garden.  Noggin knew he had to get her back before she got hurt.  But the hole wasn't big enough for him to get through.  Luckily, Noggin is very good at digging, so he set to work making the hole bigger as fast as he could.

"It's ok Muffin, I'm coming," shouted Noggin as he squeezed himself under the fence.  Just as he came out the other side, Alfie came running up, barking really loudly.  Normally, Noggin would have been scared, because Alfie is about ten times as big as he is, and he's a trained killer-attack-watchdog (or at least that's what the other dogs in the neighborhood said).  But now Noggin could only think about protecting Muffin.  So he stood up to Alfie, looked him right in the eye and barked his most ferocious bark.  And miraculously, Alfie stopped barking. 

"Sorry," said Alfie.  "Just doing my job.  If you get her out of here now, I'll look the other way."

Noggin was so surprised, he didn't know what to say, so he just nudged Muffin back through the hole, crawled through himself, and collapsed with relief against the fence.

"Yip!" said Muffin.

"You're welcome," said Noggin.

Noggin & Izzy Meet The Amazing Ryan and Her Babysitters, Bailey & Fenway

Sometimes, if you look closely, you find the most amazing things in the woods.  That's one of the reasons Noggin loves to play in the woods.  In fact, it's probably his favorite place of all to play.  Especially at this time of year, when there are big piles of leaves to kick through, and squishy mud to splash in.  So when Izzy said "Let's go to the woods today," Noggin was out the door before she even finished the sentence.

It was a very cold day, so Noggin was wearing his red and white jumper, and Izzy had her warm coat and hat and scarf and mittens on.  As usual, when they got to the woods, Noggin ran ahead to explore a bit, racing around and smelling all the lovely woodsy smells.  He hadn't run far when he suddenly stopped because he thought he saw himself coming the other way!  Of course, that's not possible, he told himself.  Maybe someone left a mirror in the woods.

But it wasn't a mirror, it was another West Highland Terrier, who looked exactly like Noggin, except that he wasn't wearing a red and white jumper, but he didn't stop or even seem to see Noggin, he just ran right past him. 

"Wait," called Noggin, "come back and play."  But the other Westie just kept running.  Then another dog, a brown one, rushed by in the same direction, almost knocking Noggin over.  "Sorry," he yelled back over his shoulder as he ran.  "Runaway baby!  No time to lose!"

Just then, Izzy caught up with Noggin.  "Did he say baby?" she asked.

"That's what it sounded like," said Noggin.  "Maybe we should follow them."  So they ran after the two dogs, and soon found them.  But they weren't alone.  Sitting between them, in the middle of a squishy mud puddle, was a very little girl, just a baby, really.  And she was laughing and splashing the mud all over the two dogs, who were still panting from all the running.

"Hello," said Noggin.  "Who do we have here?"

"Hello," said the other Westie.  "Sorry about that back there.  My name is Bailey, and this is Fenway, and we were supposed to be babysitting little Ryan here.  But you know how it is, you get distracted by a good smell, and one minute she was there and the next she was gone.  She can't even walk yet, but she can crawl faster than you can imagine!

"We'd be in big trouble if we lost her," said Fenway.  "Our parents really like her."

Izzy, who knows that babies are not usually allowed to play in the mud, asked, "Won't you be in big trouble when they find her covered in mud?"

"Oh no, I hadn't thought of that," said Bailey.  "Will you help us clean her up?"

So Izzy took off her scarf and used it as a towel to wipe off all the mud.  "Her jumper is too dirty," said Izzy.  "It'll have to go.  But what will she wear?"

"I have an idea," said Noggin.

Later, after Bailey and Fenway had said goodbye and carried Ryan home safe and sound (with only a few bits of mud still in her hair), Ryan's mummy gave them both treats for taking such good care of her.  "The only question I have," she said, "is where this red and white jumper came from?"

Bailey and Fenway just smiled.

This is Ryan (wearing Noggin's jumper) with her mummy and daddy, and Bailey and Fenway.

Noggin & Izzy go up a Mountain

Dominic & Michael at the top of the Mountain

One day, while Noggin and Izzy were still in South Africa on a trip with Noggin's mummy, they met two brothers named Dominic, who is five, and Michael, who is two, who both live in South Africa in a place called Capetown. Noggin thought Capetown was the most beautiful place he had ever been (even though he is only two, and hasn't been that many places yet), because it has all the kind of places he likes best, including beaches and water to play in and mountains and lots of places to meet wild animals.

Since Dominic was in charge of the adventure that day, he decided that they should all go to the top of Table Mountain, so that Noggin and Izzy would be able to see all of Capetown from up high.

It was a long way up, and Noggin was a bit worried that it might be too far to climb, because his legs are not very long. "Don't worry," said Dominic, "we can ride up in a cable car."

So they all bought tickets and when the next cable car came, they got inside. The cable car was like a big glass room, that you could see out in every direction, and it hangs on a cable that stretches all the way from the bottom to the top of the mountain. Noggin was having such a good time looking down at the town below, that he didn't even notice that the cable car had stopped, about half-way up. The cable car operator was pushing buttons and talking into his radio, but nothing was happening.

"I don't like this one bit," said Izzy, getting nervous. "What if we're stuck and we can't get back down!"

Michael agreed. We was hungry and thirsty already, and he wanted to go to the cafe at the top of the mountain for a snack. He tried very hard to be brave, but he was starting to think he might have to cry.

Some of the other people in the car were even more afraid, and one lady had her eyes shut very tight and was breathing funny.

But Dominic, who is very good with mechanical things, especially things that involve pushing buttons and opening and closing things, was calm as anything. Although he is only five, he is quite smart, and very sensible, so he decided to take charge.

"Noggin," said Dominic, "your job is to help the people who are afraid, by letting them stroke your head, because that is very calming. Izzy, can you find something in your backpack for Michael to eat or drink? I'll see if I can help get us moving again."

Then Dominic climbed up into the cable car operator's box in the center of the car and began very carefully to press buttons, until he pressed just the right one, and with a little bump, the cable car began moving up and up again.

When they got to the top, everyone cheered, and they thanked Dominic and said he was a hero.

Then they went to the cafe to get a snack, and they drank green Slushpuppies until their tongues turned green, and they climbed up on rocks and looked down at all of Capetown and had wonderful fun together until it was time to ride the cable car back down the mountain. This time, everything worked perfectly and it didn't stop until it was at the bottom, safe and sound.

Noggin & Izzy Meet a Cheetah

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Sometimes it is more important than others to know how to read.  Noggin, who is a two-year-old West Highland Terrier, can only read a little, because he doesn't go to school.  But Izzy has been going to school for ever so long, and she can read quite well.  Unfortunately, she didn't see the sign that said "Do not feed the cheetahs" because she was busy reading a brochure that said that cheetahs have more than 2000 spots.  So they walked right by the sign, and nobody read it.

Still, that might not have been a problem, if it wasn't for the Crunchy Bites in Noggin's backpack.  You might already remember that Crunchy Bites are Noggin's favorite snack, and that even though he loves them, he is always willing to share them.  So when he turned a corner and came upon three baby cheetahs lying next to old bits of tree, he thought it only polite to offer them each a Crunchy Bite.  Now here's the real problem:  cheetahs can run very fast, and when you give them Crunchy Bites, it makes them run even faster, and they started running around and chasing everyone in sight, including Noggin and Izzy.  Now Noggin can run faster than almost any dog at the Rec, which is the park where he plays back home, but he can't even come close to running as fast as a cheetah, and he was starting to become very tired and wondering what would happen if he stopped running.

Luckily, just then three girls came along, Anna, Alexandra and Katerine, and even more luckily, Katerine has experience with cheetahs, because one came in her garden when she was only a tiny baby.  So Katerine knew the secret to calming down a cheetah: you must confuse it. 

"You might be fast," shouted Katerine to the cheetahs, "but can you whirl and twirl around like this?"  And she spun about to show them.  The cheetahs all tried to whirl and twirl, but they got all dizzy and fell down. 

Then Anna joined the game by walking about upside down, so that the dizzy cheetahs did not know which was was up.  Now that the cheetahs were calmer, Alexandra sang them a song, so they'd get sleepy. 

Thanks to the clever and talented girls, everyone could now rest easy, which was especially important because it was almost naptime, and Noggin was very tired from all the running.

"Next time," said Noggin, "I'm going to make sure and read the signs."